Shamanjoe

I know it's actually a lot, but that number seems kind of low for us..

That cocktail list is certainly impressive. I wish I had enough friends who appreciated good cocktails to offer it myself. An interesting happening, I had a bunch of leftover onions from New Year's. They were already cut and in the bowl, marinated with the salt, pepper and olive oil. I kept them in the fridge with foil over them until last night. There was a bunch of liquid at the bottom of the bowl, but I grilled the onions anyway and they tasted just as good as when they were fresh.

Is that from your clear ice experiments? Dave, only 4 kinds?

Those look great, especially the platter. Our dessert ended up being a box of donuts that a party-goer brought, as well as the aforementioned red wine cake. Both were excellent. Somebody also brought a case of cream soda, and not wanting it to go to waste, I whipped up a simple mixed drink with it: Cream Soda Cocktail 1oz passion fruit vodka 1oz mango rum 1/2oz coiuntreau cream soda (I prefer Jones, but we had A&W that night) Shake the alcohol with ice and strain into a pint glass filled with ice. Add the cream soda to the top and give a quick stir with a barspoon. Delish!

To be honest, I'm not really sure yet. Last year somebody made angelfood cake covered in whipped cream with berries on top in the pattern of the U.S. flag.. That was really good. I think this year she said she'd make a red wine cake.. Is it weird Chris that even when I'm typing up the reply, I still imagine I see your picture off to the right? Anyways, I want those devils on horseback, they sound amazing. And that tasting menu looks like something I could go for about once a week, especially the rabbit. Katie, are you making the Coq au Vin old-school with a rooster and all of it's blood and the whole two bottles of wine? Or a more Alton Brown approach with a stewing chicken? I've always wanted to try it, especially since a friend of mine has an old rooster (he's bitten me more than once, I'd like to return the favour ) but I've never had the time..

I throw two main parties a year, 4th of July and New Year's Eve. Central to both parties are fireworks, alcohol (beer for the majority, hand-crafted cocktails for the rest of us) and of course, the FOOD! This New Year's Eve, the following is on the menu: Fresh off the grill.. Hamburgers (I make them with 50/50 chuck steak and sirloin flap meat, freshly ground and hand mixed with my 7 herbs and spices) Carne Asada (from a Hispanic market close to my house, marinated all day in spices, onions and bell peppers). Cheddarwurst (can't beat a classic) Broccolini (tossed with some olive oil, salt and pepper and slightly charred) Sweet Onions (tossed with olive oil, coarse salt and pepper, then grilled on a piece of foil poked full of holes using a chopstick) When I come up with a cocktail list, I'll post it here too. For now, that's the food list. So what's on your menu for New Year's Eve? What are you cooking, or what are you making to take to a potluck?

I'm not sure if that's what it was called, but back in the days when I worked at the movie theatre, we had a powder like that which we'd add to the oil to flavour the popcorn. Every once in a while we'd put double in and make a batch for the staff when it was slow.. Oh so good.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've tried nearly every brand that they carry at my local Bevmo! and the majority of them are just average, with a couple that could rightly be called ginger ale instead..

They had some Mexican tomatoes in my local Whole Foods when I was there last week, I think they needed to be gassed some more. They were more pink than red, and hard as rocks..

The problem is finding the right ginger beer. Anybody have any suggestions?

Beautiful breads! I have some Active Dry Yeast, but I haven't been able to find Instant Yeast in my local megamart. What brands are your favourites, and can you recommend any good websites to source it?

If you guys want to bemoan the fact that we buy produce from all over the world, there's a great egullet locavore thread for that.. How Local Are You Really? edited to add that it was an egullet thread

I know exactly what you mean. I've all but stopped buying produce from the regular groceries near my house, instead going to farmer's markets, Whole Foods or the local Asian stores. Even those places, sometimes its hard to figure out what season you're in.

You might be a cocktail snob if.. You've been eyeing the Mai Tai (Hawaiian Style), but hadn't decided to crack open your bottle of Lemon Hart and try it until John said it was good.. John, I had been looking at it, but I wasn't sure about the orange juice and pineapple juice. I'll have to try it though, as well as the Mai Tai swizzle if I can get my hands on some falernum. I think sourcing all of the syrups and infusions is going to be the main sticking point in giving all these Tiki cocktails a try. That, and finding a reliable way to crush ice.. Ooh, I thought of another one.. ..if you keep a canvas bag and giant wooden mallet in your kitchen for the sole purpose of crushing ice, and are confused when guests don't immediately understand what they're for.. or ..you've broken a tile on your counter top while crushing ice for a cocktail..

You know you're a cocktail snob when.. John mentions his version of the Mai Tai is the Surf Room and you immediately go online looking for the recipe because the one you're using came from Trader Vic's iPhone app and even though it's credited to Jeff Berry, you still want to be sure..

I used to keep marbles in my purple bag. Never really used the bottle inside much. I'd be interested in hearing any ideas about what I could do with it.

John, how did you know? Shalmanese, that photo, plus my home screen (the one the phone goes to after you run your finger across the "slide to unlock" I think would make the ultimate cocktail snob phone accessory. Especially if you count in the reputation the iPhone has for being in the pocket of Apple snobs..

..The home screen of your iPhone is nothing but cocktail apps, and those pesky "phone" features are relegated to the next screen. ..Your coworker says she likes Mai Tai's, and you ask her if it contains pineapple juice and grenadine, then laugh when she says yes and tell her that's not a Mai Tai.

Has anybody had success with putting all of the seasonings in the oil with the unpopped kernels? I know putting the salt in makes it much more evenly distributed, but what about other spices (chili powder, etc)? Will it burn, or does all the shaking keep it safe?

John, I agree completely. I think the reason it tasted so dry was the taste of the violette itself. I've noticed that it has a very dry flavour by itself (Have you ever tried violet soda? Same thing). As far as the Mai Tai's go, I went to CocktailDB to see what a good substitute would be for a Martinique rum would be, but it wasn't very helpful. I wanted something dark, and the Black Seal was right in front Bacardi Superior Myer's Platinum White Pyrat Mount Gay Appleton Special Captain Morgan Private Stock Gosling's Black Seal Lemon Hart Demerara Myer's Original Dark Bacardi 151 edited to add the following rums: Flor de Cana White Rum Flor de Cana Gold Rum Tortuga White Rum Tortuga Gold Rum Those are the rums that I have in my collection. You can see why I wasn't sure what to use. It came out great though.. I'll try it with the St. James if I can find it, I know the main flavour profile is the balance of the rum styles, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I tried the Aviation from Gary Regan's iPhone app Flip N Drink.. Aviation (from Flip N Drink) 1.5 oz gin (Plymouth) 0.5 oz maraschino liqueur (Luxardo) 0.5 oz Creme de Violette (Rothman and Winter) 0.5 oz fresh lemon juice Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. It was a bit too dry for my tastes, but still very good. I think maybe it needs a little less Creme de Violette, or maybe a slightly longer shake..

Last night was testing recipes from the Tiki+, and Flip N Drink applications for my iPhone. Trader Vic's Mai Tai 1 oz fresh lime juice 1/2 oz orange curacao 1/4 oz orgeat syrup 1/4 oz simple syrup 1 oz aged jamaican rum (I used Appleton Special Gold) 1 oz aged Martinique rum (I didn't have Martinique, so I used Gosling's Black Seal) Aviation (from Flip N Drink) 1.5 oz gin (Plymouth) 0.5 oz maraschino liqueur (Luxardo) 0.5 oz Creme de Violette (Rothman and Winter) 0.5 oz fresh lemon juice The Mai Tai's were excellent, we ended up making them quite a few times. The Aviations were ok, but a little too dry for my taste. Maybe a touch less Creme de Violette?

I've never really been a fan of Beefeaters, though I can't say for sure why. It's not bad, but it's not great either. Maybe I need to pick up a fresh bottle and try it. As for Plymouth, I've heard everybody rant and rave about it. but I haven't seen what's so special about it either. I have all the stuff for an aviation, but I haven't gotten around to trying it yet.. I have used Plymouth in other cocktails though, like my old stand-by the Tom Collins and it seems to get lost.. Maybe that works in an Aviation? I'll try the Aviation with a few different gins over the next couple holiday days and let y'all know what I think.

Great topic. I have a hell of a time browning certain things, like sliced turkey breast. I usually just do it dry with high heat, which gets some nice browned areas, but not the even crusty brown that I want. I've never tried browning things in butter, mainly because butter wasn't used much in our house other than on popcorn, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

I can't wait to go out and buy all these wonderful suggestions!